Santukay leaves education

In 2017, a twelve year old girl called Santukay joined our school.  She comes from a tribe called the Lotuku, displaced from their own area by the war.  When originally registered, according to her aunt both parents were missing.  However, the story changed each year.  This year we were told that one parent is dead. 

Santukay (head circled) with some fellow pupils.

When she first joined our school Santukay had a bright and bubbly personality.  She had never attended school before.  Over her first year at school she learnt to read and write for the first time and made very swift progress.  I will always remember a day when I asked her class about their dreams for the future.  Most wanted to be pilots or the next president.  Santukay shouted out with her usual enthusiasm, “I want to be a manager!”  It seemed to me a very sensible choice.  Every break time, she was busy organizing the other children to learn tribal dancing and teaching them very well, demonstrating her natural organizational ability.  I thought, “She will go far.”

Last year, Santukay quietened down and ceased to participate in class as before.  Her school work was not so good any more.  She was often late for school.  This year, the same pattern continued.  She told us that her aunt gave her a lot of work to do before school.  Others told me that she is made to work solidly from morning to night while not at school, cooking, fetching water, selling things in the market… the list was endless.

Santukay has not returned to school this term.  Two weeks into the term, one of our teachers informed me that Santukay’s aunt beat her very badly during the holidays.  Santukay packed her belongings and ran away to Juba (the capital city of South Sudan) to look for another relative to live with.  She is now working in a dobbi (local laundry).  

Santukay's aunt was requesting me to try to get Santukay to come back.   At the same time blaming the school for Santukay's running away.  According to her it is because we have no corporal punishment at the school.  I should mention that Santukay has never given anyone cause to want to beat her at school.  I gave a resounding “No, I will not help the aunt to get her slave back again.”  Santukay is a strong-looking girl who is tall for her age.  I am sure that the plan of the aunt is ultimately to marry her off to get a good bride price.

There is no happy solution at least in the short term.  If Santukay comes back she will be back to the former slave labour and beatings, with the prospect of being married to somebody against her will.  If she stays in Juba, she will have no chance to continue her education as there is no one to support her and there are no free schools there.  Juba is not a safe place.  As it is the seat of government, there is often fighting on the streets between different government factions. 

What I hope is that if she can revive her drooping spirit, she will look for adult education opportunities in Juba and then be able to build on the two years of schooling she received with Cece Primary School.   There are NGOs who run free adult education programmes.  She is a very bright girl. This is possible.  On the other hand, she could end up a prostitute on the streets of Juba, with all her dreams of becoming a manager smashed.

This story is one which is common to many orphaned girls in South Sudan.  The girls are seen as workhorses, with the potential to bring in a substantial bride-price.  Nothing else. 

In one way Santukay has been lucky.  Without a school which would accept her without school fees, she would never have had any education at all.  Her small amount of education may help her yet.  People who can read and write are far and few between here.

This year, we have quite a few older girls, who are suffering in identical home situations.  One girl was married from school last year.  Most have had no previous education.  Even those who have been to school before, have been very poorly taught in huge classes in a refugee camp (sometimes 1,000 to a class!) and never learnt to read or write.

Those of you who pray, please pray for our orphaned girls and especially for Sandukay.